


One Heart, Two Hands

by ruination_fangs



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:18:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruination_fangs/pseuds/ruination_fangs
Summary: A three-way relationship with the Lord of Spirits isn't anywhere near conventional, but Jude and Leia both gave up on having normal lives a long time ago.





	One Heart, Two Hands

**Author's Note:**

> for some reason I just can't seem to finish a milla/leia or jumilleia fic, so I took the parts I liked out of my drafts and made them into these mini-fic things  
> first one is before they're all dating, others are after

1.

The TV is on mostly just for background noise in the late evening, something to liven up the quiet apartment while nothing else is happening. Even so, Leia has seen fit to snuggle up to Milla as if they were actually watching something.

She tells herself it's not that big a deal, despite the way her heart tends to beat too fast at this proximity. It's just one of those girl things, right? No one ever arbitrarily cuddles Jude, because Jude would make it weird, but Milla is totally fine with it. It's completely normal and platonic. So if Milla's arm around her shoulders seems a little tighter than usual, Leia doesn't read much into it. She's probably just in a cuddly mood and missing Jude while he's at work.

It's such a waste, she can't help but think. Here Jude's got this girlfriend who's so beautiful and so patient and so immensely kissable, and he gets to see her only a few times a year, and yet tonight he's _working_. Yeah, yeah, it's important, and Milla won't begrudge him a night away when he's on the verge of a breakthrough, so Leia won't either. But really? It's already completely and utterly unfair that the two most gorgeous people in the world should fall so hard for _each other_. The least they can do is make the most of it.

There is one upside to his workaholic tendencies, though Leia tries not to take _too_ much satisfaction in having Milla all to herself once in a while. Most of the time they spend alone is when Jude isn't home, and honestly, Leia really enjoys these moments. It's nice to have Jude around, of course, but being bathed in Milla's attention is like standing in warm sunlight on a cool day, and Leia wants to soak up as much of that as she can. So she stays right where she is in Milla's arms and keeps all her muted excitement to herself.

And then Milla turns her head slightly to kiss Leia's forehead, and the younger girl freezes.

No, okay, that's pretty normal and platonic too, isn't it? Milla has done that before, albeit usually to like, cheer her up when she's upset, not just because the late night programming is especially forgettable. Milla's not that much of a touchy-feely person in general, but nor is she afraid of physical affection, and Leia thinks she's noticed more of those kinds of gestures from her since Jude and Milla started dating.

Not that she's been watching them. It's just, sharing an apartment with Jude, and with Milla's total lack of subtlety, she can't help but notice... So, yeah. Not reading too much into that, either.

Or the way Milla rests her head against Leia's after a while, or the way her fingers rub soft, idle circles into Leia's shoulder. It's normal and platonic. Milla is dating Jude, and Leia is very happy for them both.

But that's not going to stop her from taking as much of this as she can get.

 

 

2.

The couch should be big enough for three people, and yet for some reason when Milla sits down she chooses to place herself right next to Leia. Leia has no time to get nervous about it, either, because in half a second Milla is pressed up against her, arms twisting around her back and face mere inches from Leia's own.

"Eep!" Leia squeaks, and without thinking about it leans back... right into a solid body. To her surprise, Jude shifts _closer_.

Heat floods over Leia's face, from more than just the proximity as Jude's hands find their way to her waist and Milla smiles.

"You know, for all your differences, you and Jude are alike in the strangest ways," she says. She looks past Leia to Jude for a moment, eyes gleaming, and then one finger gently tilts Leia's chin up until their gazes lock. The affection there fills Leia's chest with an unbearable fuzzy feeling she's still not quite used to, tightening her throat until she can barely speak.

She tries to muster up as much indignation as she can without breaking out into a smile. "Oh, so you only like me because I remind you of Jude, is that what you're saying?"

"No," Jude says behind her, and just when Leia thinks this can't possibly get any better she realizes she can _feel_ his voice through his chest. "She's saying she has a type."

Milla chuckles. "Perhaps I do."

She leans down then to nuzzle Leia's cheek, and any trepidation Leia might have felt at this strange new situation flies right out the window. Wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's back, feeling her boyfriend snake an arm around her waist from behind her, Leia thinks that if this is going to be the new normal for the three of them, she has a lot to look forward to.

 

 

3.

"Was Jude that nervous when he asked you out, too?"

Leia almost hesitates to ask the question. Though Jude and Milla have assured her that they're all in this together, equally, the fact remains that the two of them have been dating each other far longer than they've been dating her. Is it too impertinent to ask questions about affairs that were private at the time? Is their promise to be honest about their relationship retroactive? It almost feels like asking a partner about their ex, except the ex isn't an ex, he's her boyfriend too, and...

Deciding not to think about it anymore, Leia stretches out on the bed and fires away anyway. Milla doesn't seem to mind the question at all, nor does she complain when Leia tilts her head to rest it against Milla's shoulder.

"Actually, Jude never asked me out."

Leia turns her head a little. "Huh? You asked him, then?"

Milla shakes her head, and the long strands of hair that frame her face tickle Leia's cheek. "Not in so many words. In a sense, it simply... happened."

Leia hums and thinks back to the first time she heard Jude confirm that he and Milla were together. No one was surprised, of course. Perhaps they had all been treating their relationship as an inevitability - even Jude and Milla. They already acted like a couple before either of them had called it "official," and Jude still had to be pressed into using that word.

Something thick and unpleasant rises in the back of Leia's chest. So it was never an issue with them. Nothing to sort out, nothing to discuss, no questions. She had probably assumed that that was the case, but now that the thought is at the forefront of her mind... It was so natural for them, and so awkward with her, and...

"Leia?"

"What?" She looks up to see Milla watching her, brow furrowed.

"You seemed upset."

"N-No, I'm fine..."

Milla studies her for several more moments, and then suddenly her arms wind around Leia's torso, pulling her closer. Leia can feel her face go red even before Milla leans down to kiss her cheek.

"You're as bad at lying as Jude is," Milla informs her before she pulls away. "But all right."

"Oh please," Leia says, "neither of us are nearly as bad at lying as you are."

"Honesty is a virtue, is it not?"

Leia manages to get one arm around Milla's back. "Right, I forgot you're an actual saint. Unlike us dirty imperfect mortals."

"I forgive you," Milla says, resting her cheek against the top of Leia's head. Leia squirms a little; it's so unfair that even after all this time Milla has remained taller than her. She almost managed to catch up to Jude, but both of them still have to look up to Milla, and she's sure Milla loves every moment of it.

But with Milla's head above her, Leia is in the perfect position to nuzzle up against Milla's neck and wrap her arms around her waist, so she decides to let it go.

**Author's Note:**

> maybe more someday? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
